A key driver of the deal for Nestle - the leading seller of milk formula for babies worldwide - is to get a bigger footprint in China, where it is outsold by Pfizer.

Nestle had a 17 percent share of the $27 billion global market in 2010, followed by Mead Johnson with 15 percent and Danone with 13 percent, according to the most recent data from market research firm Euromonitor International.

Pfizer said in July it would divest the infant nutrition business as well as an animal health unit, seeking to focus on its core drugs business.

In a sign that the animal health divestiture is moving forward, Pfizer has picked J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley to lead an initial public offering (IPO) of the business, sources told the Journal last week.

Pfizer is expected to file IPO-registration documents this summer for the unit, which makes drugs and vaccines for companion and farm animals.

Though Pfizer has indicated that an IPO is its preferred form of divestiture for animal health, a sale of that division cannot be ruled out either, said people familiar with the matter.

Any mirrored or quoted materials may be copyright their respective authors, publications, or outlets, as shown on their publication, indicated by the link in the news story. Such works are used under the fair use doctrine of United States copyright law. Should any materials be found overused or objectionable to the copyright holder, notification should be sent to editor@freeinternetpress.com, and the work will be removed and replaced with such notification.